There’s a new star in the Instagram jewelry world! His real world stylings of gorgeous brooches and stickpins – mainly dainty Georgian era antiques – caught my eye on IG a few weeks ago and I absolutely must share his man brooch mastery with you.

This dapper mystery gentleman prefers to keep his real world identity a secret, I’m going to take my cue from his Instagram username and simply refer to him as Le Marquis.

This is probably most showstopping photo Le Marquis has shared to date, a bold showcase shot of his staggering collection of small antique mourning pins. Little pieces like this are wonderful individually, but seeing them all together like this is jaw-dropping.

The majority of Le Marquis’ Instagram snaps are real life man brooch jewelry stylings, rather than amazing showcase photos like the one above. The day to day styles may not be quite as spectacular, but they’re even more inspiring. So many men shy away from jewelry, but Le Marquis seamlessly integrates his little historical treasures into day-to-day looks that are both professional and chic.

You know I’m a longtime wannabe brooch wearer: I admire brooches on other people but I’m not great at wearing them myself. Following Le Marquis on IG has given me a world of new brooch inspiration. It would never have occurred to style any of the above pins together…but they’re all so perfect!!

Some of his style moves are specific to men’s clothing (you know I enjoy a well-placed man brooch) but the principles are applicable to ladies’ clothes too…and who says ties are just for men, also?

Sometimes Le Marquis matches colors, sometimes he goes for contrast. Sometimes he tells a story, sometimes he just accentuates shape. Other times there are placements that seem random, but which somehow work perfectly. Through his Instagram, Le Marquis is teaching us all a visual lesson in how to seamlessly and gloriously integrate antique brooches into the modern day to day wardrobe.

Le Marquis also sometimes shares planning photos: a single brooch with multiple tie options, or a tie with a handful of brooches. I love these behind the scenes peeks.

As the trend for converting brooches and stickpins into rings, necklaces, and stud earrings rages, it’s refreshing to see Le Marquis wearing these little beauties as they were meant to be worn.

Not that I’m opposed to a good conversion piece: but I do worry that the antique jewelry community has become a little overzealous in that department. Some pins should get to be pins!

What do you think of this man brooch magic, my darlings? Are you ready to run out and buy some pins?

Searching Pinterest for pieces of jewelry that actually fit these two related but still separate categories is a challenge in several ways. The frustrating part is how much mis-labeled junk you get in the search: vaguely goth, contemporary crap with skulls and such.

On top of that is the disturbing part: sometimes mourning jewelry is categorized alongside things that I personally would rather not see. My Mourning and Memento Mori Jewelry board is all about historical jewelry, but mourning and memento mori jewelry – or pieces miscategorized as such – also tend to turn up on Pinterest boards with things like memorial photos of dead children, preserved unusual animal carcasses…that kind of macabre curiosities. I’m always interested in mourning jewelry. I am never interested in being unpleasantly surprised by unexpected photos of dead children.

For these reasons: I prefer to add mourning and memento mori jewelry to my Pinterest board by either adding it myself from reputable sources or by repinning pins collected by trustworthy individuals on Pinterest rather than widely searching.

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Not to be like “follow my board or be unpleasantly surprised by pictures of dead people” but I guess that sort of is what I’m saying? Definitely a strong argument.